Alone Or Maybe Not
by Anna221B
Summary: When Clary moves to New York, she figures she won't make any friends. She probably won't even try. But when she meets Isabelle Lightwood and her brother Jace, will that change? Can anyone figure out what's going on at home and crack her guarded personality?
1. Chapter 1

**(A.N. Okay, so the first chapter format went wrong and things were randomly bolded and cut out, so here it is again. I tried fixing it, but it wouldn't. So here it it, and I hope this one loads on right.**

**And thank you ravenwalker321 and guest for your reviews! They made me very happy)**

Chapter one

_Beep. Beep. Beep. _The sound of my alarm startled me awake. _Great_, I stretched my arms back, _first day at a new school. _I slid out of bed and walked to my closet. I chose a pair of jeans and one of my favorite blouses. I walked quietly downstairs. I didn't want to wake my parents. Well, my father and stepmother.

Once downstairs, I grabbed a banana and brewed some coffee. I poured the steaming black liquid in a mug and looked over my schedule again. First, I had Algebra II. Second, I had Gym. I hated Gym. I was far too clumsy to do any of the sports. After that, I had English. That was usually easy. At my old school I spent most of my time in that class sketching.

At 7:55 I set my mug in the sink and headed out to wait for the bus. I sat on the curb and when I heard it coming around the corner I stood up and closed my sketchbook. I climbed aboard the bus and sat down in my assigned seat. I took put my earbuds and turned on Tiptoe by Imagine Dragons.

When we got to school, I went to the front office to find out where my classes were. The secretary was a squat, kind-looking woman.

"Hi, I'm new here. My name's Clarissa Morgernstern. I go by Clary."

"Clarissa... Morgernstern... Ah. Here you are. Right," she looked up and glanced behind me, "Oh, Jace!" She called. A tall, golden-looking boy turned around, and I almost gasped aloud when I saw his eyes. They were golden like his hair, but a little darker. I would've loved to draw him, maybe with angel wings. When he noticed me staring, he smirked. I rolled my eyes.

"Jace, this is Clary Morgenstern. She's new here. You guys have all your classes together. I need you to show her around. Her locker number is 221, right next to yours, coincidentally," she smiled at us, "Now go on, and have a nice day!" I smiled and thanked her, then turned to Golden Boy. Jace.

I stuck out my hand, "Hi, my name's Clary."

He took my hand into his. It dwarfed mine and almost completely enveloped it, "Jace. Come with me."

He took off down the corridor, and I rushed after him, half-jogging to catch up. He turned suddenly on his heel at a group of lockers. I looked at them, and saw mine. 221. I looked on my schedule, and found my code. i turned the knob to the correct numbers, and pulled.

Nothing.

Suddenly, a hand darted in from of me and banged on the locker. It swung open. I stuffed my books in and kept my Algebra II book.

"Ready?" came a deep voice from behind me. I turned around to Jace standing right in front of me. I nodded, and followed him as he took off down the hall again. When we got to class, Jace sat down next to a blonde girl. She giggled and pecked him on the lips. I sat down near the back and grabbed my sketchbook. I started drawing, and before I knew it, Jace was in front of my desk, clearing his throat and looking down at my drawing. It was of a girl- me -who was on her bed, tear stains down her cheeks. She was sitting up with her chin on her knees.

"Who's that?"

"No one."

He raised an eyebrow- damn I wish I could do that -and shrugged. I stood up quickly and gathered my things. We rushed to the gymnasium, and I went into the girl's locker room. I was careful to go to an area where no one could see me change. After I changed, I headed out. I chose a spot far away from everybody else.

Gym went by in a blur of torture disguised as sport. After I changed back into my regular clothes, I waited for Jace. When he came out, he was laughing with a group of boys.

"See you guys at lunch. I gotta go show Clary to our next class," his friends chuckled.

Next, we had science. Again, I sat down near the back, and pulled out my sketchbook. This time, I worked on a drawing of an angel that looked like Jace. When the bell rang, Jace was in front of me again. I shut my sketchbook quickly, but not quickly enough for Jace to not have caught what my drawing was of. I grabbed my stuff. Next was lunch. I deposited my books at my locker.

When we got to the lunch room, I bought my lunch and sat down by myself. God, I missed Simon. He was my best friend in St. Louis, before we moved to New York. We would always sit together at lunch. Now I was here, and nobody talked to me. Not even the guy who showed me around all day. Jace seemed cold to me. I glanced over to where he was sitting with his friends. They were laughing and one would look at me every few seconds. I looked away. Why would they be looking at me? Jace must've said something to them.

When I finished my lunch, I threw my trash away. On my way back to my seat, I heard someone calling my name.

"Clary! Clary!"

I turned around to see a gorgeous girl with long, straight black hair. She was _tall_. Like, 5"10 to my 5-nothing.

"Hi, I'm Isabelle. You can call me Izzy. My brother is showing you around. Jace. Come sit with me!"


	2. Chapter 2

**(Disclaimer That I Forgot Last Chapter: I do not own TMI or Imagine Dragons. Things would be different then.)**

Chapter 2 - Jace POV

I snuck another glance over to her table. She was sitting alone. I felt bad, but I couldn't just invite her over to my table. The guys would give me hell, and so would my girlfriend, Kaelie.

"Yo, Jace, whatcha looking at?"

I returned my gaze back to the guys at my table, "Nothing."

They looked over to where my gaze used to be, "Hey, isn't that the girl you have to show around all day?"

"Yeah."

"She's hot."

"Eh," I glanced back over to her table. She was gone. Turning my eyes back to my table, I saw Izzy. She was calling someone's name. I followed her line of vision and saw Clary.

Oh, God.

I watched as Izzy grabbed Clary's hand and pulled her over to her table.

**~Clary~**

I let Izzy drag me over to her table.

"Hey guys! This is Clary. She's new. Clary, this is Maia," she pointed to a pretty, tan girl, "and this is Jordan, Maia's boyfriend," she pointed to a tall, tan boy, "and this is Simon, my boyfriend," she pointed towards a pale boy with glasses and brown hair.

I nodded at each person as Isabelle introduced them, "You can sit here," Izzy told me, pointing to a seat between her and Jordan. I sat down and watched everyone talk. Jordan nudged me with his elbow and I tried to keep from wincing, to no avail. Thankfully, no one noticed.

"Hey. So where'd you move from?"

"St. Louis, Missouri."

"What was it like there?"

"It was alright. The Arch is cool. It got really humid in the summer."

Then the bell rang, dismissing us from lunch.

The rest of the day went quickly and before I knew it I was on the bus. When we were at my stop I got off and grabbed the mail. I unlocked the front door and set the mail on the coffee table. Then I went up to my room to work on homework. I finished most of it when I looked up at the clock. Crap! 6:00. Dad would be home in half an hour and I hadn't even started on dinner yet. I ran down the stairs and put a pot of water on the stove. Pasta was fast and easy. I grabbed the spaghetti noodles and waited for the water to boil, then poured them in. 23 minutes. It took another 10 minutes for the noodles to be completely cooked through. I quickly strained them and grabbed te pasta sauce, but dropped it. The glass broke all over the floor, but I would have to clean that up after I finished the pasta.

I had just finished adding spices to the sauce when I heard keys jiggling in the doorknob. Time was up. There was still sauce and glass all over the floor. I dropped to my knees with a dishtowel and got to wiping up the sauce. When dad got to the kitchen, he let out a huge yell, "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?"

"I-I dropped the pasta sauce. Dinner is ready. I'm cleaning it up," I didn't look at him while I spoke.

He grabbed my hair and pulled me up so far that I was on my tip toes. I winced and tried to keep from yelling out, but a strangles noise rose from my traitorous throat. He smiled at that," Get me a bowl of whatever crap you've made. Your stepmother will be home soon." He let go of my hair, and I fell to my knees. He sent a well-placed kick to my ribs, and punched me, knocking my head into the refrigerator. I didn't notice the pain. I scrambled up once he left the room and grabbed a large bowl from the cabinet, filling it with pasta and grabbing him his first evening beer. I took it to my father in the living room and sat down the beer on a coaster.

Despite who my father and stepmother were, our house was kept clean, by me. We had nice furniture to impress people, but no one really used it unless someone came over. "Where's Jonathan?" My father grudges out through a mouthful of pasta.

"He has football practice. He'll be home shortly."

"Mm."

I went back to the kitchen and resumed cleaning up my mistake. Now that I was sitting, I felt the tearing pain in my chest and head. I worked through the pain though, and finished fairly quickly. I had sauce all over my clothes, but they were my at-home clothes, bloody and stained from past incidents. I went back to my room and listened for an opening door to signal that my brother was home. I didn't bother changing out of my clothes yet because I was likely to do something wrong again. When I heard the door opening, I ran down the stair quietly, and dished up some spaghetti for Jon. He came into the kitchen loudly and I handed him his bowl.

"Spaghetti? You're useless," he dropped the bowl onto the floor. He elbowed me in the nose to get to the fridge, and grabbed a soda, while I knelt down to grab his bowl. I took it over to the stove and set it down by the pot.

A few hours later, I was showering off all the diet and sauce. I closed my eyes and leaned my head back to rinse the shampoo out and heard the door opening. I thought I had locked it. My head shot up to see Jon through the glass door of the shower, "Get out."

He raised an eyebrow at me. "Little sister, you know you can't tell me what to do."

I crossed my arms over my chest and turned around, "Get. Out." I heard the rolling sound of the shower door opening and felt arms go around my waist. "Jon!" I squirmed against him. He turned me around in his arms.

"You will stay quiet, or I will make you stay quiet."

"Help!" I yelled; surely even my father wouldn't allow this. I heard the door opening again and went up on my tiptoes to see over Jon's shoulder. Dad stood in the doorway.

"What're you doing, son?"

"Nothing, dad."

"Whatever. Keep quiet," he closed the door and left us alone again. Jon strengthened his grip on me. "I told you to stay quiet," he growled. I squirmed again, trying to get out of his arms. He took one arm away from my waist and hit me hard enough to make me fall out of his other arm. I curled up in the bottom of the shower while Jon kicked me. My vision went blurry, I vaguely noticed Jon turning off the water and picking my bare form up. He carried me to my room and spread my body across my bed. He started undressing.

"What're you doing?" I croaked out. He didn't answer. He climbed up on the bed. I kicked out at him and pushed at him. I knew now. He hovered over me, a smirk on his face. I fought as hard as I could, but he overpowered me.

I woke up the next morning and stretched. I was so sore. _Why?_ And then I remembered what happened last night. I started shaking. I ran to the bathroom, feeling like I was going to throw up. I looked at myself in the mirror. There were marks _all over me._ Everywhere. On my face, my chest, my stomach, and other areas. I knelt over the toilet. I was going to puke. But I didn't. I stayed there for 30 minutes feeling sick.

Slowly, I got up. Time to face the day. I dressed slowly, easing the unrevealing clothing over my bruised body. I grabbed my stuff and headed out to the bus. Thank god Jon didn't ride the bus with me. He had his friends pick him up. I boarded the bus and kept my head down. I slid into my seat and faced the window. When we got to school I walked in the same manner towards my locker. I grabbed my Algebra II book and my sketchbook and headed off to class.

**(AN: Sorry it's been awhile! Please review it makes me happy! :D)**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**(AN: I know, I know, I know. It's been forever. I'm sorry. I've been swamped. It's almost the end of the school year, though, and I'll probably update more over the summer.**

**Disclaimer, I don't own TMI…)**

**~Jace~**

I waited for Clary to walk into class. Kaelie was talkng at me, but I didn't really care. I shot glances at the door every two seconds. _What is wrong with me?_ I caught a glimpse of red before Clary turned the corner into the classroom.

I held back a gasp. All around her face and her neck were red marks. I shot up out of my seat, and, not realizing what I was doing, walked over to where she was sat at the back of the class. "What the hell happened to you?"

"What do you mean?" she looked up at me with wide, innocent emerald eyes.

"What do _you _mean 'what do you mean?' You have red marks all over you!" I grabbed her arms and pushed up the sleeves on her sweater. The marks were there, as well, "_Shit,_ Clary! What happened?" I whispered. She yanked her arms back, rolling her sleeves back down and looking around.

"Nothing happened."

"The _hell_ nothing happened. What're those red marks from?" I sat down in the desk beside hers.

"Why do you _care?_" She hissed.

I didn't answer. Why _did _I care? I didn't know, so I went back to my question, "What _happened_?"

"Nothing. Go away," she grabbed her sketchbook and the teacher came in and started the lesson.

**~Clary~**

I walked into class and went to my seat in the back. While I was rummaging in my bag, Jace walked over, "What the hell happened to you?"

I furrowed my brow. There was no way he knew. I looked up at him, "What do you mean?"

"What do _you _mean 'what do you mean?' You have red marks all over you!"

_Shit. I forgot to use coverup this morning. Shit!_

He grabbed my arms an pulled up my sleeves, "_Shit_, Clary what happened?"

I yanked my arms back and rolled up my sleeves, "Nothing happened."

Jace sat down in the desk next to me, "The _hell_ nothing happened. What're those red marks from?"

"Why do you _care?"_

He seemed to ponder that for a moment, before asking again, "What _happened_?"

"Nothing. Go away," I grabbed my sketchbook from my bag. Just then, the teacher walked in and started class. _Thank God. _

When the bell rang, I shot out the door to avoid more questions from Jace. Unfortunately, though, he was in all of my classes. There wasn't much completely avoiding him, especially since I had no friends in this class. I slipped into the locker room, going into one of the stalls to change. I couldn't risk anyone seeing the other marks. I changed slowly, postponing going into the gymnasium. When I was fully changed, I eased the stall door open, walking slowly to the locker where I kept my normal clothes. I stuffed them in, and sighed deeply, walking out of the locker room.

When I entered, Jace's eyes snapped directly to me. I looked at the ground, avoiding his gaze. I went over to the corner and waited for the coach to give is directions. I slid down the wall until I was sitting. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jace headed towards me. There really wasn't any avoiding this, so I stayed where I was. When he got to me, he slid down the wall until he was sitting next to me.

"So what happened?"

"I fell down some stairs."

"U-huh."

"I did! I'm extraordinarily clumsy."

"Sure you are, Clary."

"It's true. If you don't believe me, that's your business," I stood up to leave, but Jace grabbed my wrist. I cringed involuntarily and yanked it back, and walked off. I avoided him for the rest of Gym. When we got to Science, I sat in the back again and got out my sketchbook. I started a drawing of the city. When the bell rang, I closed my book and set off to lunch. I set my stuff down at Izzy's table and grabbed my lunch.

**~Jace~**

I was worried about Clary. Those marks _so _didn't come from falling down stairs. They were _everywhere. _I sat down at my table with my tray. The guys were talking about Clary, "What do you think happened to her?"

"I dunno, man."

"Do you know, Jace?"

"Drop it," I snapped. I didn't want to voice what I thought. She had cringed away from me when I grabbed her wrist. Did someone hit her? Maybe I could pay a surprise visit to her house... I looked back up from my lunch at the guys. They were giving me weird looks. I glared at them, and they looked away.

After school, I followed Clary's bus to her house. I felt vaguely stalkerish, but I was too concerned about Clary to think about it, so I shrugged the though away. When I saw her get off the bus, I waited until she got into her house, and pulled to the curb in front of her house. I walked up to her front door and rang the doorbell. A moment later, Clary answered to door.

"What are you doing here?"

"Paying a visit to my favorite redhead," I said as I slipped around her and into the house. "Nice place."

"Thanks, now get out of it."

"Ouch, Red. You wound me."

"You'll be fine. Now leave."

"Naw, I think I'll stay and hang out," I flopped onto her couch.

"Whatever. I need to make dinner," she stalked into what I assumed was the kitchen. I followed her.

**~Clary~**

I huffed out a sigh as Jace followed me into the kitchen. I grabbed the chicken breasts from the fridge and sat them on the counter. I grabbed all the spices I needed from the spice rack and sat them down beside the chicken. I prepares dinner in silence while Jace just sat and watched me. After I put the chicken in the oven, I sat down across from Jace and started on my homework.

It wasn't long after the chicken was ready that my father got home.

"Clarissa!" he called out at the door. I panicked.

"Hey, Dad. My friend Jace just stopped by," I said so he would know not to do anything. He came into the kitchen with a big fake grin on his face.

"Alright, hon. What'd you make there?" he gestured to the steaming food.

"Chicken breasts and peas. Would you like me to make you a plate?" I plastered on my best, most believable fake smile. I already had a plate out for him so I filled it with food and handed it to him. He took it and thanked me and sent me a menacing look when Jace turned to look at me. I know I paled, and Jace noticed, too. He gave me a weird look.

**~Jace~**

Clary's father was gigantic. I was tall, and leanly built, and her father was a _mountain. _After Clary gave him his plate, she paled. She was looking behind me at her father. Just then, Clary's brother, Jonathan walked through the door. He stopped short when he got to the kitchen. He glanced at Clary's battered form and asked if dinner was ready. Clary nodded and made him a plate silently.

"So, Jace, how do you know our Clary?" asked Valentine.

"I met her at school."

"Good to know she already has friends."

I nodded mutely, and Clary handed Jonathan his plate.

"Well, I'd better go," I said.

"Bye, Jace," Clary said softly. I grabbed my keys and headed out the door. I headed out to my car, got in and drove a block away.

**(AN: Please review! It makes me happy! It also inspires me to update more often… ;D)**


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